Brrr. The time has come for wearing layers, wool hiking socks, hats, and even gloves if you happened to be able to find a pair this morning. This was a 4 i/2 mile hike with mostly steep climbing on the way up and knee rattling challenges on the way down. A real workout that also included being lost from time to time. The trails are not blazed but hike leader Gwen pretty much had the map “in her head”. The lichens and fall asters caught my eye, and a heron at a high old reservoir certainly caught out attention. Rain fell from time to time, but the canopy was dense enough to help keep us dry. One small colony of Maidenhair Ferns caught everyone’s eye! They are so uniquely beautiful. So too are the blue stem goldenrods. We brought our bag lunches to Gwen’s log cabin and had mugs of hot tea as well. Tony had made one of his blueberry pies and we ate it with memories of our good friend Kit, whose birthday would be tomorrow. Kit, a quiet man who loved nature and hiking, died two years ago. As I look over my photos I must say they don’t capture the day at all. But I won’t be returning to take any more photos today!! Happy October. We may have had our last swim on Tuesday, although if it warms up again we plan to be back at the Conway Pond for “just one more swim”. Looking forward to lots of beautiful Fall weather for all of us, Penny 
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